1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
2. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
4. On his deathbed, Ivan asks, “Why, and for what purpose, is there all this horror?” Does the text provide an answer to this weighty question?
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
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How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
Death and disease are sensitive topics to talk about. As a realistic author, Tolstoy makes sure to keep this theme in his writing to portray realism. Ivan Ilyich’s family feel an aura of discomfort around him whenever they see him bedridden and close to his upcoming death. Unlike Ivan’s servant, Ivan’s wife and children pretend that he will feel better soon and return to work. However, Ivan knows that is not possible. Everyone knows that his illness will lead to his death soon. Ivan criticizes his family’s thoughts. He wants his family to accept that he will die. However, at his final moments, Ivan pities his family for their attitude towards his death knowing that death and illness is a sensitive topic for anyone.
1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
I think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan’s death because he wants the readers to first get an idea of how the people around Ivan felt about him. Ivan’s friends reacted in an unexpected way to his death. They didn’t seem to actually care or feel any sadness about his death. They even went to the funeral just to get over it. Tolstoy wants the audience to capture of these reactions, maybe to make an emphasis on the miserable life of Ivan.
2.“The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
The use of French and sometimes German words and phrases in the novel implies the standard high education of Russian aristocracy of that time. Whereas, there is not any distinct purpose that it might serve within this work of literature. To make it clear it is essential to identify a few general aspects of that period. First, historically Russian aristocrats were not any different from ones of England, India, France, etc. So, it was common for most influential families to teach their kids languages such as French or German that were quite popular during the 19-20th centuries in Russia. Thus, sometimes even sending them to study or live abroad to gain more knowledge of high society which certainly involves the gasp of works of literature in their full and authentic language.
Meanwhile, at the same time the use of certain phrases in French that we embarked on in the novel consist of a secondary reason which is vocabulary. To make it more convenient to understand, consider the way how bilingual people occasionally speak among each other. Especially the combination of both languages during the conversation which indicates certain liability of words and their meanings. In other words, the use of some terms in one language might generally ease the understanding among peers; yet, consequently containing much more sophisticated or onerous translation in the other which might often ruin the recognition. Lastly, the use of the term in a language different from the native one may also suggest the forgetfulness of its similar version or assimilation to society. Similarly, in my opinion, it can be viewed by the different version of a train station in both American and British English which may be confused for many. Thus, the use of French by Leo Tolstoy could be interpreted differently, such as the writer was either wanted to preserve its true meaning or merely the words were commonly used by the majority who read his works.
Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
Ivan Ilyich’s family are sort of trying to avoid coming to terms with his death and illness. we think this way do to their interaction with Ivan and mostly because of Ivan’s thoughts. They aren’t focused on his illness and revolves around this idea and focus on other matters. which to me is a really real thing because having experience this with my family. I went to visit my grandpa in the hospital and we would talk about literally everything except his illness and how he might pass away. Although we know it unavoidable we cannot grasp the whole idea of death and shy away from facing it.
3)Ivan Ilyich family did not take care of him. They were enjoying their life and Ivan Ilyich was dying day by day. Their reactions tell us that no one in the family have close relationship to Ivan Ilyich meaning that their life will be unaffected by the death of Ivan Ilyich.
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
As most people and families do in real life Ivan Ilyich’s family shy’s away from the topic or issue of death and illness. Death and disease are sensitive topics to talk about in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” as much as it is in real life. Ivan Ilyich’s family feel all feel a sense of incredible discomfort around Ivan whenever they see him bedridden and close to his upcoming death. Ivan’s wife and children choose to pretend that he will feel better soon and return to work even though it can be assumed that everyone knows that his illness will lead to his death soon. In the spirit of realism Tolstoy capture how we all shy away from talking or dealing with death and illness even though we all know it to be unavoidable.
Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
After reviewing literary realism, the concept of illness and suffering in The Death of Ivan Ilyich reveals the gruesome but inevitable reality of death. The attitude towards death in Ivan Ilyich’s family is very dismissive and uncomfortable, their attempts to comfort Ivan by saying he will soon get better evokes a feeling of false hope. Furthermore, death is a sensitive topic in the short story as much as it is in real life. Death is something we all know in the back of our heads, but society suggests that we rather not talk about it because it is such a pessimistic thought.
1. This way Tolstoy can get the reader’s full attention and interest in knowing how it all began, because “hey, maybe this stuff can happen to me to, people can really be shady..”. That can be one of the thoughts we as readers may generate. The title already says it all, Ivan Ilyich is going to die. So we as readers are like “alright, let’s see how all this went down..”. And we get genuinely interested.
1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
The work is already called “The Death of Ivan Ilyich;” therefore, readers already know that Ivan Ilyich is going to die – there is no reason to really prolong the story. Beginning with the announcement of Ilyich’s death also let readers know how the people around Ilyich felt about him giving away that Ilyich wasn’t a likable character as well as emphasize his lifestyle.
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
Ivan Ilych’s family reacts to his illness by not feeling as empathetic towards Ivan as he expected them to be. He hoped that they would spend more time next to him during his suffering yet, “Though they tried to disguise it he saw that he was an obstacle in their path and that his wife had adopted a definite line in regard to his illness and kept to it regardless of anything he said or did”(759). This quote shows that through Ivan’s perspective, his family saw him as an obstacle in their path because while they wanted to continue to have an entertaining time, Ivan could no longer join them. Despite of him telling his wife that the medication is not curing him, his wife would still say that medicine would help him because she doesn’t know what else to add. Through Ivan’s eyes, it seems that the family doesn’t care for him or pity him as he wants them too. Their lack of emotional reaction reveals that either they cannot relate to Ivan because they have never felt this sick themselves, or that the upper-class folks do not worry about Ivan being on the verge of death because they themselves are not in his shoes. This ties to the genre of literary realism because the story is being represented as if it is real life. In real life, people are also busy and at times others think that when they are sick, no one is having as much empathy for them because no one is as emotional to their sickness.
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
In Ivan Ilyich’s family and in our own society there is a denial of death. When people hear of a loved one about to die there is a phase of denial. People often overlook illness and don’t fathom the thought of losing the person. They often counsel them selfs that the person will get better and that it isn’t possible for them to die. When in fact death is something no one can escape. Ivan’s Wife did not what to talk about it as wouldn’t any other wife in our own society.
How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
They view Ivan Ilyich’s illness as a nuisance. Especially his wife, they thought he was being a let down, ruining the mood for everyone with his health and depression. At one point, the wife wished he would’ve just died but the family needs his money. This shows that a superficial marriage only leads to superficial relationships in the long run.